According to figures published every day by the Agence France Trésor, which manages France's public debt, the rate on 10-year government bonds (OATs) reached 3.59% on December 11, after 3.61% the day before, the day after the National Assembly adopted the Social Security financing bill. This was the highest level in recent years and 0.3% higher than the rate observed at the beginning of the month. Does this market evolution reflect an increased mistrust of the French economy, when one could have legitimately hoped the opposite after the success achieved by the government?

Certainly not ...

Continue reading

There is a striking contrast between the real situation of the American economy and the frequently catastrophic judgment about the French economy. In Parliament, discussions on the 2026 budget are beginning and the rating agency Standard & Poors has just downgraded France's rating to A+ with a stable outlook from AA- with a negative outlook. The fragility of the government, characterized by the narrowly rejection of a motion of censure and a heavy debt justified this decision. And it has triggered a wave of alarmist comments aimed at pushing through a rigorous budget despite a political context that is not ...

Continue reading

The aggravation of international tensions should not make us forget the current fragility of the economic and financial balances in which the stability of the dollar and the resulting confidence must play an essential role. In the past, taxes were successively assigned three missions: to finance public spending, then to contribute to the redistribution of income to correct inequalities, and finally, with the application of Keynesian principles, to act on economic activity by stimulating investment and household consumption through the budget deficit.

After decades during which wealth accumulated, even if it was not evenly distributed, and the exchange of goods ...

Continue reading